Glenn Whelan, the Stoke City midfielder, will remain unpunished for his
two-footed lunge on Javier García because Howard Webb, the referee, saw the
incident in real time.

Even though Webb told Gareth Barry, García’s Manchester City team-mate, that
he did not have “the right angle” to see the full extent of the tackle, FA
rules dictate against “refereeing” on-the-ball incidents that came into the
view of any of the match officials at the time, unless in exceptional
circumstances. Whelan is pleading for full-blooded tackling to be retained
as an integral part of the English game, even though he feared the